Tube mounted applicator

ABSTRACT

An applicator comprising a squeezeable container, a cap surrounding the upper part of the container and having an opening therein forming a valve seat. The cap has an inwardly extending flange on the inner surface thereof. A mounting ring is concentric with the container and has a groove therein and is force fitted in the container with the flange being locked in the upper part forcing a portion of the upper part into the groove thereby holding said upper part, said mounting ring, and said container in assembled condition. An enlarged valve head connected to the mounting ring and located above the opening and engageable with the valve seat to close the opening is formed by heat and pressure after the step of force fitting.

United States Patent [191 Schwartzman [45] Feb. 26, 1974 TUBE MOUNTED APPLICATOR Primary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-H. Grant Skaggs Jr. I t G lbert Sch 20 W l t [76] ,nven or S zz"??? mo Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kenneth S. Goldfarb [22] Filed: Apr. 17, 1972 57 7 AB A [211 App]. No.: 244,561 An applicator comprising a squeezeable container, a cap surrounding the upper part of the container and [52] U S Cl 4. 222/107 222/212- 222/501 having an opening therein forming a valve seat. The

222/494 cap has an inwardly extending flange on the inner sur- [511 Im CI 865d 35/541 face thereof. A mounting ring is concentric with the [58] Fie'ld 206 92 container and has a groove therein and is force fitted in the Container the flange being locked in the g upper part forcing a portion of the upper part into the [56] References Cited groove-thereby holding said upper part, said mounting Y ring, and said container in assembled condition. An UNITED STATES PATENTS enlarged valve head connected to the mounting ring Schwartzman .T I and located above the opening and engageable 3,656,660 11/1969 the valve seat to close the opening is formed by heat 1 322:2; 222/496 and pressure after the step of force fitting.

l Claim, 4 Drawing Figures j 1 3 TUBE MOUNTED APPLICATOR This invention relates to an applicator and a method of construction thereof.

In connection with squeeze bottles and squeeze tubes, it is desirable to provide means for securing the cap and applicator as well as a'valve metering arrangement to the squeezeable container in an efficient and rapid manner while requiring a minimum of handling and labor.

Further, it is desired that the assembly be selflocking so as to hold all the parts securely in position. In assembly, twisting operations of parts often require expensive and space consuming machinery so it is desirable to assemble these applicators using linear movement of parts.

In the past, various types of applicators having valve assemblies have been manufactured in which threaded arrangements or other fastening means have been used to secure the parts together. These have often proved unsatisfactory because of the cost of, parts, difficulties in molding and necessity to domany of the steps either by hand or requiring complicated'turning or twistin motion to be applied on the parts. i

The present invention resides in the concepts of the method of securing the cap and the mounting ring with the valve assembly to the container in a simplified manner and wherein the mounting ring not only holds the parts in assembled condition but also carries the valve stem and valve head; 1

Y The construction of this invention features a mounting ring having a spring pressed valve stem. The mounting ring is of a larger diameter than the interior diameter of the combined container and cap so that when force fitted into position with the valve stem extending through an opening in the cap, all the parts are securely held together.

Still further objects'and features of this invention reside in the provision of a tube mounted applicator and method of securement thereof, which is capable of being used in conjunction with squeezeable tubes or squeezeable bottles or like containers that minimize the amount of steps necessary to secure parts together while eliminating the necessity of any rotary motion 45 being applied on any of the parts thereby reducing the size of the machines necessary to be used in automatic assembly of these applicators.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of this invention, which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this tube mounted applicator, a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of example only, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the main elements of the invention shown prior to assembly;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a further step in the manufacture of the applicator;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the applicator with parts thereof being broken away toshow other parts in detail; and, r

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the assembled applicator shown in use.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral generally designates a container such as a squeeze tube, bottle, or the like whose end 12 may be made fluid tight in any convenient and conventional manner. The open upper part 14 of the container 10 is of a larger diameter than the inner diameter of a cap generally indicated at 16 and is adapted to seat against the inner surface 18 of the cap. The cap is provided with a shoulder 20 for limiting the innermost position of the container 10 and the cap 16 surrounds the upper part 14 of the container 10. A mounting ring generally indicated at 22 forms another major element of this invention. The mounting ring has asubstantially cylindrical vertical wall portion 24 provided with a groove 26 therein and is of a greater diameter than the inner diameter of thecombined container 10 and cap l6.'The upper wall 28 of the mounting ring 22 has an opening or aperture 30 therethrough. A valve assembly 32 is provided which includes a valve stem 34 and a base disc 36 to which the valve stem 34 is secured and a plurality of helical coil springs 38 which are integral with the base 36 and with the upper wall 28 so as to normally urge the valve stem 34 to a predetermined position. The cap 16 is providedwith a flangeor tongue 40 which is adapted to urge the material of the upper part 14 of the container into the groove 26 when assembled. The cap is provided with a dome-like upper wall 42 having a tapered opening 44 therein forming a valve seat 46.

In the steps of assembling the applicator, and with the upper part 14 of the container seating against the flange 20, the mounting ring 22 is force fitted into the container 10 within the cap so that the valve stem extends through the aperture 30 and the'flange 40 and the upper part 14 are jammed into the groove 26.'Then,- the portion of the valve stem 34 extending through the opening 44 can be shaped in one or more steps by any suitable mandril which may be heated as indicated at 48 in FIG. 2 so as to shape the valve head 50 to a desired'size and shape to engage the valve seat 46 for normally closing the opening. The top of the valve head is arcuate to lie flush with the arcuate top of the cap. When it is desired to use the device, the container 10 need be squeezed in the direction of arrows 52 thereby forcing fluid in the direction of arrows 54 upwardly and through the openings as indicated by arrows 56'. I

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without'a corresponding use of other features.

I claim:

1. An applicator comprising a squeezable container, an upper part at the upper end of said container, a cap surrounding said upper part, said cap having an opening therein forming a valve seat, said cap having an inwardly extending flange on the inner surface thereof,

said flange extending peripherally around the inner surface of said cap, a mountingring coaxial with said container and normally having an outer diameter greater than the inner diameter of said upper part, said mounta ing ring having an upper wall provided with an aperture through said aperture and said opening and having an integrally connected to said upper wall adjacent to said enlarged valve head above said opening and engageaperture for normally urging said valve head against able with said valve seat to close said opening, helical said valve seat. coil means integrally connected to said valve head and 5 

1. An applicator comprising a squeezable container, an upper part at the upper end of said container, a cap surrounding said upper part, said cap having an opening therein forming a valve seat, said cap having an inwardly extending flange on the inner surface thereof, said flange extending peripherally around the inner surface of said cap, a mounting ring coaxial with said container and normally having an outer diameter greater than the inner diameter of said upper part, said mounting ring having an upper wall provided with an aperture therein and having a cylindrical vertical wall portion provided with a groove therein, said groove extending about the periphery of said vertical wall portion, said cylindrical wall portion being force fitted in said upper part of said container with said flange being locked in said upper part forcing a portion of said upper part into said groove thereby holding said upper part, said mounting ring, and said container in assembled condition, a valve assembly including a valve stem extending through said aperturE and said opening and having an enlarged valve head above said opening and engageable with said valve seat to close said opening, helical coil means integrally connected to said valve head and integrally connected to said upper wall adjacent to said aperture for normally urging said valve head against said valve seat. 